There is a growing need to learn how to perform muscle relaxation techniques for anxiety because we are in a stress pandemic. The American Psychological Association has found that 44% of Americans suffer from moderate to severe stress – that figure has gone up consistently every year for the past five years. If you feel like you need to learn relaxation techniques for anxiety, you definitely aren’t alone!
Having a busy and stressful life can strain both the mind and body. Often, people do not notice how tight their bodies are until they sit down at the end of the day to head to bed.
What is worse, is in modernized society, we are addicted to speed. Learn about how to better slow down and relax with these guides below:
The Drawbacks of Prolonged Stress
Occasionally not unwinding is fine, but prolonged stress can cause problems both mentally and physically.
Mental Problems due to Stress:
- Irritability
- Anxiety
- Restlessness
Physical Problems due to Stress:
- Muscle tightness
- Headaches
- Fatigue
- Chest pain
- Sleep problems
Learning relaxation techniques for anxiety helps you unwind your body and mind to take care of yourself both mentally and physically.
The Benefits of Muscle Relaxation
Muscle relaxation is critical to daily stress relief and prolonged healthy lives. A study by Harvard Health found that
- Heart rate, blood pressure, and stress hormones are lower with daily use of muscle relaxation techniques.
- Improvement to positive emotional states such as feeling happier, more gratitude, and joy
- Increased creative thinking flow allowing participants to be more efficient as well
And a study by the Journal of Behavioral Medicine by Dr. Kabat-Zinn found that patients trained in relaxation techniques experienced less pain and relied less on the daily use of drugs.
3 Muscle Relaxation Techniques for Anxiety
1. Progressive Muscle Relaxation
This practice focuses on tensing each muscle group in order and then releasing that tension. The goal is to progressively bring feelings of release to the entire body.
- Find a spot where you can sit or lie down comfortably
- Pick how you will progress across your muscles; I usually start from my feet and work my way up to the top of my head, but there is no wrong way.
- Breathe in and tense the first muscle group firmly (hard but not to the point of cramping) for 4 to 10 seconds. For me, I would begin at my feet – crunching them tight for 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and release.
- Breath out, while completely relaxing that muscle group. For me, I would breathe out for seven while relaxing my feet.
- Repeat that same process for that muscle group one more time. Crunch and release one more time.
- Relax for 10 seconds before moving onto the next muscle group and repeat steps b-e for each muscle group. For me, I would then work my way up to my calf – duplicating the whole way until I covered every muscle group, ending at my face.
- After going through every muscle group – clench your entire body for 4 to 10 seconds.
- Breath out to completely relax your entire body.
- Sit for thirty seconds experiencing this relaxed sensation.
- Count backward from 5 to 1 to bring your focus back to the present
See this guide from the University of Michigan if you want further insight and a different flavor of this kind of meditation!
2. Body Scan Meditation
Body scan mediation is about noticing to the parts of the body and the associated sensations in a gradual sequence from the feet to the head
- Get yourself into a comfortable seat, either in a chair, lying down, or even standing up
- Take a few calming deep breathes to settle into the practice. Breathing in 4, holding for 5, and breathing out 7. Close your eyes to better focus on the sensations.
- Start to notice your feet. What are they feeling? Notice the weight, pressure, vibration, and heat.
- Continue to move up the body, noticing the ankles, possibly the sensation of where your socks end, for instance.
- Continue this process slowly up the body, taking ten seconds at least for each area.
- Whenever you notice tension, see if you can relax the tension. Do not tighten it like with progressive muscle relaxation, just notice and see if you can bring release to those tight areas.
- Common areas of tightness include the hamstrings, stomach, shoulders, jaw, and forehead.
- To end, notice the body as a whole. Breathe in and take one final breath. Open your eyes and come back to the present moment.
Berkley has a guided practice if you would like to follow along with someone for the first few times.
3. Transcendental Meditation (also known as Metta)
This mediation focuses on a specific mantra that is repeated over and over again. Normally, it can be accomplished with any word or phrase. To cultivate a sense of muscle relaxation, use a word that encourages the muscles to relax. Common mantras that work for me are: “Move from tense to relaxed.” “Relax.” “Feel the tension melt away.” “Calm.”
After you pick your mantra that focuses on relaxation, use the following steps:
- Sit in a comfortable seat. Close your eyes and keep your back and neck straight
- Start with thirty seconds of quiet and slowly ease into the mantra
- Repeat the mantra in your head at no particular rhythm
- Do not think about your breathing (after you are now thinking about your breathing – just go back to your mantra).
- Let the mantra draw your attention but allow thoughts to float by
- When you feel yourself drifting away to other thoughts, calmly bring yourself back to your mantra and cultivating a relaxed feeling.
- Keep this practice going for as long as you need, somewhere between 5 to 20 minutes is the usual practice
- Slowly bring yourself out of the practice, and take ten seconds to notice how your body has relaxed
Business Professionals particularly use this type of meditation practice.
Main Take-Aways
- Without muscle relaxation, our bodies get tense, which can cause muscle pain, heart problems, fatigue, irritability, and inefficient working.
- By taking a few quick minutes each day to focus on relaxing the body, we can mitigate the damage to our body, while cultivating a more relaxed attitude and outlook.
Action items
Take these practices and try one a day for the next three days. Carve out five minutes in your schedule, ideally first thing in the morning or right before bed. Practice these techniques and notice how your body is feeling after the third day. Continue the practice and cultivate resting the body.
